Gallows Rage, originally uploaded by wrachele.
England’s Gallows are either the future of punk rawk or the next casualty of a short fuse and an oversaturated sense of alienation. When this explodes one way or the other, thousands will say they were at this show but the reality was siginificantly lower. This is last truly scary band I’ve seen since … well, its been a long time.
Twenty five years later (from the pic posted below) the boys are still shaking the earth…
David Meniketti of Y & T at the Old Waldorf shortly after the release of Earthshaker. When these guys were called Yesterday and Today they played a neighboring high school and thoroughly blew away another up and coming band called Journey ( in the pre-Steve-Perry-space-rock-jam-days).
trippscottunseen, originally uploaded by wrachele.
Tripp and Scott from the Unseen. Notable quote, “How punk rock is this? 3:00 in the afternoon in front of a football stadium and a giant horse…”
The Unseen – Mark Unseen, originally uploaded by wrachele.
Not since the Ramones has there been such serendipity. Imagine being born with a name like Mark Unseen and becoming the lead singer of a band called…the Unseen! Coincidence? I don’t think so.
I don’t make any secret of the fact that some of my favorite music is Punk rock. Not the MTV, stuff but the old-school, hardcore, Mohawked, three-chord PUNK RAWK that is guaranteed to get a circle going if more than two people are listening. Some look at the music and musicians from a distance and pass judgment saying that no Christian should be anywhere near this kind of music. In general, I have to say they’re wrong. There might be some overly nihilistic bands that feed the undercurrent of despair among their fans but by and large, the Punk genre has an ethos that fits well with the Lord’s message.
This past week I have been witness to an unprecedented amount of finger pointing that screamed ‘Why don’t you care about this or that situation’. The trouble is, it stops right there. You rarely see people act on the injustices that they criticize you for crossing to the other side of the street to avoid. The punk ethos is different. While it criticizes the social wrongs of this world, the folks of this tribe are also know for acting on the problems as well. Rather than pointing my finger at you and whining because you don’t care about poverty or the homeless or the elderly I going to do something about it and then encourage you to join me.
Jesus could have sat off at a distance pointing to the myriad of brokenness that he surveyed and then implored his disciples to do something about it but that wasn’t His style. He got down in the dirt with the woman about to be stoned, He crossed the racial and gender dividing lines at the well, He touched the lepers and so many other act of mercy and grace. His style is my style and we hope it will be yours as well.
But I’m not going to pull my ‘Hawk out and wonder why you don’t devote yourself to the same concerns as I do. The Spirit works His ministry differently in all of us.
Hip hop raconteur Jimmy Mar brings the word to his adoring crowd
Colin Buis of Revolution Mother does his best Jaco Pastorius impersonation. He and drummer Brendan Murphy were rock solid anchors to the intensity that is Mike Vallely and Jason Hampton’s fuzz-soaked guitar. Revolution Mother is no vanity project like Juliette and the Licks, Vallely has a mde a career of standing out on the fringes of all that he’s done and this new band is nothing different. Come to think of it, how far out do you have to stand in order to be on the fringes of the skater set? Approach with caution…
This Rawk Friday will be a little different as I won’t be sharing one of my photographs. Instead I wanted to point you to a true story of transformation and redemption in Rick Derringer. Some of who are a little older remember Rick in the McCoys and then providing a part of the soundtrack to our high school years in the seventies with Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo! (still, one of the greatest songs ever). Derringer has seen a change in his life that many of us can relate to as his attention slowly turned from the excesses of the world to the life we were meant to live. I’ll let a part of his testimony take over here: (read the whole testimony here)
I have come to realize that the Lord allowed me to survive drugs, alcohol and sins of the flesh so that I can stand here today as an example. A living, breathing example for all of you who think there’s no way out; for all of you who think you’re trapped in your addictions. The Lord can fix it all! He can bless you with the strength to beat any addiction. He died on the cross for your sins and gave you the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven.
Rick’s faith is not a passing-Paris Hilton phase in his life. Check out how he has rewritten one of his signature songs ‘Still Alive and Well’. Originally a paean for his friend’s recovery from addiction, Derringer is using his music and his stage to bless others now.
Just in case you forgot or missed it back in the day, here’s an old video of Rick playing with Edgar Winter and doing Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo
Rick Derringer’s Web Site: www.rickderringer.com
By the way, he sells one of the greatest albums of all time there (Derringer Live) so stop by and buy two or three copies.
Pro skater Mike Vallely fronts a new band, Revolution Mother. Vallely is very much in the Henry Rollins mold; intense on stage and extraordinarily personable in person. Behind him are guitarist Jason Hampton (the Electric Hillbilly) and drummer Brendan Murphy (no nickname). Best question of the set: “Are there any outlaws left out there??!!” to the trucker hatted teens that surrounded the stage.
LOVE | ACCEPT | FORGIVE 